Abraham will stay in race, hopes to win with Abuzuaiter and Johnson

At-large candidate Wayne Abraham narrowly made it through the primary election, placing sixth, but he plans to hang on. Abraham and Marikay Abuzuaiter appeal to an overlapping constituency as progressive newcomers who have served on the human relations commission and have taken similar stances on a number of issues, but it appears they are competing for the third place seat in the general election.

Former mayor Yvonne Johnson and mayor pro tem Nancy Vaughan showed most strongly in the primary placing first and second, and many expect them to stay in those positions in the general election, leaving only one seat open. With many points of similarity between Abraham and Abuzuaiter, it is possible they will split votes, allowing Lawyer or Thompson to come in third. Abuzuaiter came in third in the primary.

Abraham doesn't see it that way, saying that people are unpredictable and that he doesn't think all of his supporters would vote for Abuzuaiter if he withdrew, and vice versa.

"I think efforts are underway to see if it can't be Yvonne, Marikay and myself [on council]," Abraham said. "That's what we're shooting for. I think this election cycle is different."

In the past, Abraham said, being an incumbent was more solid ground to stand on, but this time around, he thinks both Vaughan and Thompson's seats are vulnerable.

Many factors will contribute to turnout changes in the general election, including the fact that three districts didn't have a primary, a new order of names on the ballot, a narrowed field and countless other variables.

At large races are particularly difficult to predict as well, because voters can choose one, two or three candidates as opposed to the district and mayoral races where each voter has one vote. Given all that is at play, Abraham isn't ready to throw in the towel.

"I think the best thing to do is for me and Marikay to run as hard as we can," he said, and that hopefully they could both win.